Interview: Black crowes lyric

The Black Crowes, the rock 'n' roll band with the Brothers Robinson at the forefront, became known to millions of fans with hit singles like "Hard To Handle," "She Talks To Angels," and many more.

quick bio

No band has embraced the grass-roots rock 'n' roll sound and introduced it — full throttle — to a legion of new fans as much as The Black Crowes have. When the band's debut album was released in 1990, the A&R departments at record labels and disc jockeys at radio stations could not believe that Shake Your Money Maker was a new release. After all, there was no way that Rich and Chris Robinson were born in the late 1960s: the music suggested that these two lads must have been front and center at Woodstock, and not in diapers at the time.

But it was not until Christmas 1983 — or "Black Christmas" as their parents would coin the day — that the brothers from Atlanta, Georgia received their first instruments. Rich and Chris had been playing music for years, using their father's instruments. Their parents, Stan and Nancy, were no strangers to music and the "bizness," and it was for this reason that Mr. and Mrs. Robinson would have preferred that their offspring pursue careers in medicine, law or business; anything but music.

Like it or not, the Robinson brothers went into music. Meanwhile, their parents' influence was remarkable. Their brainchild was The Black Crowes, a killer concoction that was one ounce Rolling Stones, one ounce Led Zeppelin, one ounce Faces, one ounce Chuck Berry, all poured over a heap of Southern Harmony...

By The Black Crowes' second album, The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion, The Black Crowes were deemed as "the most rock 'n' roll" of rock 'n' roll bands.

The band has gone on to sell millions of records and play for some of the largest audiences. Their electricity and showmanship has been noticed by some of the heavyweights in rock music, and they have toured with legendary acts like Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, as well as Page and Plant.

On the heels of the release of The Black Crowes' latest, Live, we sat down with Rich Robinson and chatted about the Crowes, their tours and their future.

Q: Great live album, how did it come about?

It was sort of on the fly; the tour was coming to an end and I talked to Chris and said, 'let's record these last couple of shows'. That was on a Monday and by Thursday, there were trucks there recording the shows. It was in Boston, but nothing was planned in advance.

Q: Why now?

We decided to take a break, a long break. We hadn't had one in over a decade. So, we just felt that the shows were going well, the band was playing in top form, and the reason I wanted to do it was to capture us live. We did not necessarily think of the album, but we recorded [the shows] and it turned out great, so we said, why not?

Q: What do you prefer: studio work or the live feel?

I like both, but they are very different. They are both creative but in different ways. Playing live is great because every night is different. Playing songs differently and changing sets is great. We play for two and a half hours, so we play most of our stuff.... But being in the studio is also great. Seeing these ideas turn into songs — start from one part to grow into a thing is very creative.

¿ Quick fact ?Rich Robinson's favorite Black Crowes songs are the ones he wrote, and his favorite Black Crowes shows are the ones he played.

Q: Your father is a musician, yet Chris said that your father would have been happier had you become doctors. Is that true?

Well, I think that early on he got ripped off, so he was not very thrilled with the music industry. Granted it was a different time, but he saw the bad element of it, and he wanted us to go into something more steady. He did not encourage it, but he did say that if this was what we wanted to do... he said, 'just understand the other side'.

Q: On "Black Christmas" you got your first instruments. Did you guys insist or did your dad get them for you himself?

I think that he was tired of us using his instruments (laughs)... he had really nice guitars

Q: Makes sense. Your first album was very successful, how hard was it to follow up?

It is hard in the sense that the first one sold seven million records, the second only sold four, and the record company was like, 'why did you not sell more?' (laughs). But we were really happy with it. Luckily for us, creatively, all of our albums have been better and grander, but saleswise it has not been that way. It's like hey, we are not gonna compete with *N Sync or Limp Bizkit... we do what we do and some albums will be successful, some will not be as much commercially... but we don't give a sh*t...